


Not A Ghost

by happy_little_trees3



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Spoilers for Episode: Flirting with Social Anxiety, and sleeping naked, brief panic attack for thomas and virgil, he meets remus first, i hope i did it justice, nico can see the sides, the sides get to meet thomas' boyfreind officially, tis a wild time, tumblr wanted it, typical remus stuff, warning for remus talking about murder, youtube comments wanted it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:40:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27358930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happy_little_trees3/pseuds/happy_little_trees3
Summary: Nico is quite happy with his life, thank you very much.And just because his boyfriends house is possibly haunted by alternate versions of him does not mean he plans on leaving.AKA the Nico meets the sides fic that a lot of people wanted to see
Relationships: Nico Flores/Thomas Sanders
Comments: 25
Kudos: 251





	Not A Ghost

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> My first Sanders Sides fic shall be one that lots of people have been talking about-Nico meeting the sides.
> 
> Brief note, pretend this happens in a world where Thomas doesn't have a web series with the sides and is just an actor or something. No one knows about the sides but him.
> 
> Warning for Remus being Remus and talking about murder (of the serial killer variety) and sleeping naked, idk if that can be a trigger but we cover all bases when talking about Remus, and Virgil/Thomas having a panic attack.
> 
> Thanks to my friend @sanders_riordan_potter over on Instagram (Larissamusic7 here on AO3) for editing this for me! She runs a fan account for Sanders Sides, Harry Potter and Percy Jackson on Instagram so go check her out!
> 
> Enjoy!

When Thomas had told Nico he had been trying to see the pins on his backpack to find out if he was gay or not, and had spent twelve dollars on some gross, soggy carrots to do it, Nico laughed. 

Because that was _extremely_ adorable _._

And so was Thomas! It had taken a bit for him to open up to Nico, but when he did, Nico found out quite a few things. 

One: Thomas _really_ liked Disney. Once Nico got him started on it, he didn’t stop talking for _hours._ But it was ok. Thomas was really cute when he was excited about something, and excited he was.

Two: Thomas liked cartoons. Aside from the Disney ones, which had a separate place in the _I love it so much_ category of his brain, cartoons in general were really important to him. Thomas had worn a Steven Universe shirt to one of their dates, and Nico had spent a good portion of the date debating whether or not to bring it up.

Once he did, they talked about the show (and the gut-wrenching finale in Future) until they got kicked out of the restaurant. 

Thomas was literally _perfect._ Nico was kinda glad that he had fallen in that trash can and that they had met. It had only been a few months since the _Carrot Incident_ as Thomas had taken to calling it, but they genuinely worked as a couple in a really, _really_ good way.

Which led to the current scenario. Thomas had invited him over to watch Moana, which Nico had yet to see. The look on Thomas’ face when he told him that was just... _priceless_.

And, you know, really, _really,_ endearing, so they were watching the movie. 

Nico knocked on the door of Thomas’ house, waiting patiently for him to answer the door. It took a bit, but Thomas finally threw it open with a grin.

“Hey! Come on in, I’ve got it all set up. You’re going to _love_ the movie, it's amazing. And the songs are all written by Lin Manuel-Miranda, it's incredible!!”

“Isn’t that the guy who wrote Hamilton? I loved that musical! The songwriting was _incredible,_ ” Nico said, sitting down on the couch. Thomas had the title sequence of Moana up on his tv, set up on the DVD player and not on Disney Plus. Nico had to chuckle. Of _course_ Thomas owned the movie. 

“Yeah, same guy! I’ll go grab some popcorn, be right back.”

Nico smiled as Thomas went into the kitchen. He started to scroll through his phone as he heard the popping of the popcorn and Thomas humming to himself. Nico scrolled past some ads on Tumblr, just absent-mindedly looking at memes and whatnot. 

After a bit, he thought he felt someone looking at him. He looked up, expecting to see Thomas looking at him.

And...it was _kinda_ Thomas, but something told him it _wasn’t_ Thomas.

Not-Thomas was wearing an odd set of clothes, like some sort of prince costume. It was black and poufy, with a green sash slung over his shoulder. He had a morning star slung over his shoulder and was kinda squatting on the ground. His hair was messed up and he had a mustache...something Thomas _definitely_ didn’t have _._ His eyes were the same color, but there was a sort of crazy gleam in them that Thomas _definitely_ didn’t normally have. Nico blinked, thinking he was just seeing things. 

“What are you wearing, Thomas?”

Not-Thomas looked over his shoulder, as if Nico had been talking to someone behind him and not _to_ him, then back at Nico, the crazed look in eyes now gleeful.

“Oh, you can _see_ me!” he squealed, popping up and leaning forward, supporting himself with the morning star, “ _That's_ a new one!”

The longer Nico looked at him, he started to notice that he was kinda fuzzy around the edges. Was he seeing a _ghost_? Nico couldn’t remember if Thomas had a twin or something that had died, or any long-dead relatives that had looked a lot like him. 

But what other explanation was there for... _this?!?_

“Well, if you must know, I always wear this. Except when I sleep. I do that in the _buff!”_ said ghost-Thomas gleefully, moving his butt back and forth and wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. 

Nico was...starting to get concerned for his sanity when Thomas _finally_ came back into the room. He moved around the weird ghost version of him, as if he could see him, the bowls of popcorn held high above his head. 

“Ready for the movie?” Thomas said with a grin, plopping down besides Nico. He frowned, looking at the concerned look on Nico’s face, “Something wrong?”

“Um...there's a ghost you? By the kitchen? Who I guess sleeps...naked? You see him, right?”

Thomas had just taken a drink of his water and immediately started choking on it, hacking and coughing. Nico nervously took the glass from him, making sure it didn’t spill all over the couch.

“You can _see_ Remus?” Thomas asked after he had recovered, “Green sash, black shirt?”

“Um...Yes? Who is he?”

Thomas looked _really_ nervous now, and was stuttering out his words.

“Well-uh-it's complicated-I think-I mean it’s really not but I don’t know how to _explain_ this-”

“Whoa, hey, breathe buddy. It’s fine, I just-”

“ _Ohmygodheknowshemusthateusorthinkyou’recrazyohfuckohfuck_ -”

Nico jumped as another figure popped up by the guy Thomas said was named Remus. This guy also looked like Thomas, but was wearing a purple jacket covered in flannel patches, and black jeans. Black eyeshadow was smeared under his eyes and his hood was up. He seemed to be having a panic attack.

“Virgil, _you are not_ _helping_!” Thomas said, also on the verge of panicking.

“Hey, breathe. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight. You can do it,” Nico said, rubbing circles into Thomas’ back.

It took a bit, but both Thomas and the other Thomas who was probably Virgil calmed down, but neither would meet his eyes.

“Ok, so take a deep breath, and explain what exactly is going on, and if your house is haunted by versions of you from an alternate reality.”

Thomas laughed, his usual loud laughter coming out as a small snort, “I mean, you’re close I guess. Ok, so...you’ve seen Inside Out, right?”

Nico nodded.

“It's like that, except they’re like the different parts of my personality, not my emotions. I don’t know why they exist, but they do. Virgil,” he said, pointing to the not-Thomas in the purple jacket, “is my anxiety. Remus is part of my creativity, but like...the weird parts? Intrusive thoughts, I guess.”

“Not ghosts?”

“Not ghosts.”

Nico nodded, “So what, they just kinda showed up? Why can _I_ see them?”

Thomas shrugged, “No idea. No one else has ever actually _seen_ them. I haven’t even told anyone about them before.”

“So...what do they do, exactly?”

“I can answer that.” 

Nico jumped as yet another Thomas showed up, this one wearing slacks and a blue polo, complete with a tie and glasses. He looked kinda like what you would expect a stereotypical teacher to look like.

“I am Logan. I represent Thomas’ reasoning and logic, as well as any information he has ever learned or stored in his mind. We exist all the time, but when Thomas is having a crisis we can manifest to dissect the problem and aid him in fixing it. Why we exist as we do, however, is...perplexing. I have no concrete answers as to why this phenomenon occurs.”

Nico nodded slowly, “Ok. I guess this makes sense.”

“We also don’t interfere with Thomas’ day to day life. Any of his actions or thoughts throughout his life are entirely his. We will usually mind our own business unless Thomas is under serious distress or directly asks for our company and or advice, so you need not worry about that aspect of it all.”

“Wait, you’re ok with this?” Thomas interrupted, looking confused. “I mean...this isn’t _normal_.”

“Well, yeah, but you’re not a serial killer so you’re still ok in my books.”

“He could be!” Remus said, now floating upside down and kicking his feet back and forth, “They look like everyone else. _And_ it would be easy enough if we _really_ thought about it-”

“No,” Logan said, pulling Remus down to the ground, “We will not be partaking in any illicit activities. _Ever_.”

“DON’T BREAK LAWS!” screamed yet another Thomas, frantically popping up out of the floor. Even Thomas was startled, practically jumping onto Nicos lap.

“Patton, no one was breaking any laws.” Thomas said, reassuring the personality. This one also had glasses, but he was wearing khakis and had a sweatshirt with cat paws tied around his neck. 

“Nico, this is Patton. He represents my morals. And...my tendency to make dad jokes and _terrible_ puns manifests with him.”

Patton gasped and did a little dance, his eyes almost as wide as his smile, “Oh my goodness! You must be Nico! Oh, you’re a handsome one aren’t you, you little _rascal_ ! It's _pawsome_ to meet you!” he said, shaking the sleeves of the jacket tied around his neck.

“Oh, um, thanks?” Nico said, smiling. “Anyone else I should meet?”

Two more figures popped up. One was dressed similarly to Remus, but his shirt was white and not quite as poufy, with a red sash going along the opposite shoulder. The other one was wearing a black suit with yellow accents along the trim and along a cape, as well as a bowler hat. He had scales along the right side of his face, and his eyes looked like a snakes. 

“Ok, so that one is Roman,” Thomas said, pointing to the one with the red sash, “He’s the other half of my creativity, but he’s more dreams and ambitions and fun things while Remus is...Remus. And _he’s_ Janus, who is-”

“Lies and selfishness.” said Janus with a bow. Roman was glaring at him, and quickly moved over by Virgil who was now sitting on the couch. Nico noticed that his eyeshadow was purple now, and wondered if that meant anything.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you all,” Nico said with a wave. Patton let out a little squeal. 

“Nice to meet you too!” he said, bouncing a little. “Roman and Virgil are the only ones who have seen you so far, the _scallywags_. I’m glad we’ve all had a chance now!”

“Wait, you have?” Nico said, turning to Thomas.

“They were with me at the mall and were giving me advice on how to approach you to see if you were gay,” Thomas said with a blush.

“Roman’s the reason Thomas ended up in the trash can,” Virgil said with a smile.

“I was _not_!” Roman said, looking offended.

“Well it’s nice to officially meet you,” Nico said with a nod to the two, who grinned. 

“Can we watch our movie now guys?” Thomas asked his sides, a pleading look in his eyes. 

“Yes, of course,” Logan said. “Roman, I’ve been meaning to talk to you. We need to discuss your sword.”

“What about it?”

“Well, it’s not historically accurate. The prince stereotype you embody is typical of Europe, specifically England, but your sword is Japanese in origin. Technically, you should have an English style longsword to better fit your persona at the very least and-”

“Guys! Lets have this conversation elsewhere, m’k?” Patton said, sinking into the floor. The others followed suit, Roman yelling after Logan about how there was nothing wrong with his sword, but the majority of the conversation was lost.

“So, do you still hear all that?” Nico asked, pointing to where Logan and Roman had been. Thomas shook his head.

“Nope. Logan wasn’t kidding, they really do their own thing if I’m not interacting with them. Kinda glad for that, it would be a _little_ annoying if I heard them constantly.”

Nico laughed. “I thought they were great. I may be biased though. They’re part of you, and I think you’re pretty great.”

Thomas smiled a huge, blinding smile, and bumped his forehead against Nico's. 

“Thanks for being so understanding. I know it’s...a lot.”

“Yeah, but I’m willing to ride it out. I’m in it for the long run, so I better get used to it.”

Thomas’ smile somehow got bigger. “So, Moana?”

Nico smiled, fairly certain that his grin matched his boyfriend’s. 

“Moana.”

**Author's Note:**

> What did you think? I might do more of this later on if you guys liked this (no promises) with Nico having interactions with each side individually. Idk.
> 
> Leave a comment and let me know what you thought! I usually respond!
> 
> Till next time, guys gals and nonbinary pals!
> 
> Fight me on Tumblr @happylittletrees3


End file.
